Mixing and ejection tool



Dec. 24, 1968 R. x. BLANK ETAL MIXING AND EJECTION TOOL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 25, 1967 Dec. 24, 1968 R. J. BLANK ETAL 3,417,971

MIXING AND EJECTION TOOL Filed Feb. 23, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 y wwf United States Patent O 3,417,971 MIXING AND EJECTION TOOL Robert J. Blank, 4002 Buchanan St., and David E. Snyder, 4910 Jackson St., both of Hollywood, Fla. 33021 Filed Feb. 23, 1967, Ser. No. 618,142 3 Claims. (Cl. 259-37) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A dental tool for mixing and ejecting impression paste or similar materials. The tool utilizes a single chamber for mixing material and from which materials are ejected.

This invention relates to a mixing and ejection tool for materials such as impression paste employed in the dental arts. The invention is a single hand-oper-ated tool for both mixing and ejecting impression paste. It employs a single chamber which has a rotatable spiral rod therein that alternately cooperates With a gate that closes olf the chamber and a movable disc that enables material to be expelled from the chamber. This tool replaces mixing bowls or pads and spatulas along with ejection tools and other means for depositing the mixed paste.

In the practice of the dental profession, time is of the essence. This is because the patient is often in an uncomfortable position or situation and it is extremely important that this situation be minimized. In addition, the dentist is a highly skilled and trained person Whose time is of considerable economic value so that tirne consuming operations must be minimized if dental services are to be afforded at an economical rate `and if dental serives are to be made generally available to the populace. One time consuming operation that presently exists in the dental practice is the preparation, mixing and ejection of impression pastes which are employed incident to the making of bridges, inlays and similar dental appliances. Presently it is the practice to place the various materials to be mixed on a pad or pads and to then take portions of these materials and mix them together with a spatula. The mixing is performed by hand and is a slow, inefficient and messy process. The mixed materials are then funneled, or by other means, inserted into a tool for ejection into the mouth. The placement of these mixed materials into a tool is a difficult manipulative operation as the materials are gummy and do not readily flow from the mixing pad, spatula or funnel. Once the material is in the tool for ejection, then the materials are placed in the patients mouth at a particular location. It should be noted that the time for this procedure is quite critical as it is desirable that the impression paste have a relatively short set time to facilitate the formation of the desired impression. In some instances the performance of this procedure with such paste requires two persons to be effective. Thus, the dentist and his assistant are often involved in this procedure.

The present invention avoids many olf the above problems and is a time saving device which enables a neat and eiicient procedure for the mixing and ejection of materials such as impression paste and Imay take the form of a plastic disposable tool. Briefly, the invention comprises a chamber means for receiving the ma- Ierial to be mixed and ejected; means for mixing the material in the chamber coupled to said chamber means;

and means for ejecting the material in the chamber means coupled to said chamber means.

The above generally described structure will be completely understood with reference to one embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in the drawings where- 1n:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the tool with portions of the tool in section;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the 'lines 3--3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is `a sectional view taken along the lines 4-4 of FIG. 1; 1

FIG. 5 is a sectional View taken along the lines 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a sectional View taken along the lines 6-6 of FIG. l;

lIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the entire too FIGS. 8-10 show the tool in various positions in its mixing and ejection operation; and

FIG. 11 is an alternative embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the mixing 'and ejection tool 10 comprises a chamber means 12 for receiving material to be mixed and ejected therefrom, a means 14 for mixing material in the chamber coupled to said chamber which includes spiral rod '16, at least one mixing member 18 at one end thereof, a grip ring means 20 and a gate or closing member 22. Also included in the tool 10 is `a means 19 for ejecting the material in said chamber coupled to said chamber means which comprises in addition to spiral rod 16 and grip ring 20, an ejection nozzle 24 and a disc 26 (FIG. 7).

More specifically, the chamber 12 includes a tubelike body 28 with a pair of threaded ends 30 and 32. The body 28 is formed from two sections 34 and 36 (FIG. 4) joined by a hinge member 38 which is secured thereto to enable section 36 to swing open and conveniently receive the material that is to be mixed in the chamber 12.

Adjacent the threaded end 32 is a slot 40 adapted to receive the gate 22 which closes off the chamber 12 so that material may not pass therefrom, Thus, the gate 22 may be viewed `as a means for closing off chamber 12 or for enabling material to be ejected therefrom when it is removed from slot 40 and chamber 12.

:Referring to FIGS. 5 and 7, gate 22 is in the form of la rectangular shaped member with a circular recessed tab 46. The recessed portion 4S (FIG. 7) abuts a portion of the tubular body 28 and makes contact therewith to form a seal which prevents the leakage of material yfrom the chamber during mixing. The circular tab portion 46 completes the blocking oi of chamber 12 and h-as a tab section 49 which ts into a slot 50 to fix the gate 22 in position. The gate 22 once in position, as shown in FIG. 5, is permanently secured in place by tightening the ejection nozzle 24 on the threaded end 32 to abut gate 22.

The ejection nozzle 24 includes a threaded fitting 52 and a nozzle member 54 secured thereto. The fitting 52 threadingly engages the threaded end 32 of tube 28 and abuts gate 22 when it is in position. When gate 22 is removed from tube 28 the tting 52 is adapted to be further threaded over end 32 to :close the slots 40 and 50 so that the material within chamber 12 is not expelled therefrom.

At the other end of tube 28 is threaded end 30 which has a slot 59 adjacent thereto and which threadingly receives an end cap 56. The end cap 56 includes a threaded coupling 58 which is threaded over end 30 and slot 59 and which has secured thereto grip means 60 (FIG. 2) and a threaded insert 62. The insert 62 threadingly engages the coupling 58 and has an opening 64 contoured to receive the spiral rod 16 so that the spiral rod 16 is rotated as it moves linearly through chamber 12.

The spiral rod 16 has at least one mixing member 18 secured to its right end (FIG.'1). Preferably the mixing member 18 comprises a pair of blades 66 and 68 which may either be axed to the end of rod 16 or rotatably mounted thereon. The blades 66 `and 68 have a plurality of circumferential notches 70 (FIGS. 3 and 7) `with portions intermediate the notches contoured or bent to facilitate mixing. Gripping ring 20 is rotatably mounted by an appropriate bearing structure 72 located at the left end of spiral 16 (FIG. 1). This rotatable mounting of the grip ring means 20 enables the ring to be held in a fixed position while the spiral rod 16 rotates as it is moved linearly through opening 64 in the end cap 56.

It should be noted with respect to the above structure that the parts may be made of various types of materials such as stainless steel, aluminum, plastic, iron and alloys thereof. In one desirable embodiment all parts are made of plastic and the entire unit is disposable.

With the above structure in mind the operation of the device may now be readily understood by reference to FIGS. 8-10 where the cooperation of the structure at various phases in the operation of the tool are shown. First, the hinged door 36 is opened and the impression paste or other materials to be mixed are inserted in chamber means 12. The impression paste may comprise a thiokol rubber base material along with a catalyst material. Typically, the material is placed in the chamber 12 by simply squeezing a tube containing a base material and a tube containing a catalyst material. The catalyst may be in liquid form. A typical proportion of materials may be employed up to the door length of base material along with an equal length of catalyst material. The door 36 is then closed. The threaded portion of the ejection nozzle 24 is then loosened and gate 22 is inserted into slots 40 and 50 and secured therein by tightening the ejection nozzle to abut a portion of the gate 22. End cap 56 is then tightened to seal off slot 59. This closes olf the chamber 12 so that material may not be ejected from the ejection nozzle 24. With the stop 22 in place and the material in chamber 12, the grip means 60 is held in one hand and the grip ring means 20 is held in the other hand. Pushing and pulling the grip ring 20 in and out causes the spiral rod 16 to rotate as a result of the rotatable mounting 72 and the spiral or contoured entry 64. The rotation of the spiral rod 16 which accompanies the push and pull action results in blades 66 and 68 mixing the material within chamber 12 (FIG. 9).

With the mixing complete the gate 22 is removed and the movable disc member 26 is inserted into the chamber. The accomplishment of these steps of the operation may be done in any desirable sequence. With spiral rod 16 withdrawn (FIG. 9), and end cap 56 loosened, disc 26 is inserted in the slot 59. The slot 59 is then closed by tightening end cap 56, thus preventing the escape of any material from chamber 12. The gate 22 may then be removed by loosening ejection nozzle 24. The ejection nozzle 24 is then tightened to close the slots 40 and 50 (FIG. l). Alternatively, the gate 22 may rst be removed and With the disc 26 being inserted into chamber 12 thereafter. In any event, with the disc 26 in position, the grip ring means may be again pushed forward to deliver the mixed impression paste or other material to the desired point in a patients mouth. This, of course, takes place after the tool has been located properly in the patients mouth.

An alternative embodiment is shown in FIG. 11. This embodiment functions as follows:

Capsules 111 and 112 have a premeasured amount of material within them. An adhesive tape 113 is positioned to close the slot in capsule 111. Closure caps 116 and 117 on capsules 111 and 112, respectively, are removed and capsule 111 is screwed into and joined with capsule 112. Next, cap 120 is removed and part 121 is joined thereto by a threaded connection. The unit is now ready for mixing. After mixing is completed, cap 119 is removed and ejector nozzle is screwed into place. The tape 113 is then removed :and disc 114 is inserted into the slot. The mixed material can now be ejected. All the parts of this embodiment may be disposable with the exception of part 121 which may be employed for a number of operations.

From the above description it can be seen that a single tool has been provided for the mixing and ejection of material without any messy handling of gummy materials. The utilization of the tool may be carried out by a single person and the procedure completed with approximately a 50 percent time saving. In addition, there is very little impression paste material wasted and neither the patient nor the dentist are required to perform any personal washing or cleaning operations after the procedure. In the event the tool is not disposable, it may readily be cleaned.

Although this invention has been disclosed and illustrated with reference to particular applications the principles involved are susceptible of numerous other applications which will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. For example, in one alternative embodiment the slot 50 and gate 22 may be omitted and the ejection nozzle replaced by a solid threaded end cap which closes off the chamber. Similarly, the slot 40 may be opened and closed by various arrangements such as a rotatable ring fixed by a set screw and movable to an open or closed position. The invention is, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A dental tool for the mixing and ejection of impression paste or similar materials comprising:

an elongated tube-like chamber having a pair of ends,

means for the insertion of materials into said charnber and at least two slots with one located in the vicinity of each of said pair of ends;

an ejection nozzle engaging one end of said chamber for the ejection of material from said chamber and adapted to tit over the slot at said one end;

an end cap for engaging the other end of said chamber and adapted to iit over the other slot at said other end of said chamber, said end cap having an opening adapted to receive a spiral rod;

grip means located on said end cap;

a spiral rod engaging said end cap with one end within said chamber and having -mixing blades thereon, said spiral rod adapted to move through said end cap and simultaneously rotate; and

grip ring means rotatably mounted at the other end of said spiral rod outside of said chamber to enable a manual force to be applied to said spiral rod and to rotate said spiral rod and move it through said chamber.

2. The structure recited in claim 1, wherein a gate means is inserted through said slot at the end of said chamber in the vicinity of the ejection nozzle and in abutting relation to said ejection nozzle, whereby the gate means is secured in said chamber to occlude said chamber to enable mixing to be performed by the said spiral rod.

3. The structure recited in claim 1, wherein a pistonlike disc is inserted through said slot near said end cap and into said chamber to enable material within said chamber to be ejected out of said ejection nozzle.

(References on following page) References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS JOHN M. BELL, Assistant Examiner'.

Fischer 259-19 Janssen 259-99 5 U.S. C1. X.R. C001( 259-37 XR 259-101 WALTER A. SCHEEL, Primary Examiner. 

